What this Death on the Nile adaptation also has is drama behind the camera, with almost a quarter of its marquee cast embroiled in at least one scandal since the movie was shot in 2019. Once again helmed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, Death on the Nile mimics many of the same beats of Christie’s 1937 book of the same name, right down to the Karnak, the luxury steamer that serves as the setting for much of the tale’s bloody plot. Poirot’s latest cinematic case is Death on the Nile, the sequel to 2017’s middling Murder on the Orient Express. It doesn’t take a sleuth to figure out why: Christie wrote Poirot into 33 novels, two plays, and more than 50 short stories, meaning there’s never been a shortage of source material for Hollywood to adapt. But Disney barely mentions Hammer's name in the press notes.Since Agatha Christie introduced Hercule Poirot in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), the brilliantly mustachioed detective has been a mainstay of whodunnit TV and film.

Ultimately there's no trace of cancel culture in this film, unlike other recent productions to have removed shamed actors like Kevin Spacey, and the cast remains the same here. Disney did not comment on this when asked. Given the opulent nature of the production, it would also have been expensive to shoot the crime thriller from scratch and particularly complicated because of the pandemic. In 'Death on the Nile' Hammer's role is so central that it would have been difficult to edit him out. He denied them, but his career has since gone downhill, and police in Los Angeles are still investigating. An Egyptian spice market on the banks of the Nile was staged in the Cotswold Water Park west of London.Īlthough the thriller had already finished filming in 2019, soon after that serious allegations of sexual assault emerged surrounding actor Armie Hammer ('Call Me By Your Name').

The sets also needed plenty of time, and the construction of the temple ruins of Aswan alone took 10 weeks, while the spectacular steamer required 30 weeks. 'Everything about the story is now younger and sexier, literally and aesthetically.'ĭuring the pandemic, this Disney production, which according to media reports cost around $90 million, was on hold for a long time, much like the repeatedly postponed new Bond movie. Branagh said he wanted a more 'youthful approach' with his adaptation. 'Death on the Nile,' published in 1937, was written after a trip to Egypt. They are not the stuff of horror and you know you can count on a clean resolution in the end. Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in a scene from 'Death on the Nile.' (DPA)ĭespite the murder at the heart of them, Agatha Christie's detective stories have something soothing about them.

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